European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine

Abstract

Personal listening devices (PLDs) include all electronic gadgets that allow users to listen to audio uninterrupted for prolonged periods without disturbing the people around. PLDs are used by youngsters not only to listen to recreational music, but also to hear audio books, online videos and for online educational programs specifically in the current COVID 19 pandemic scenario.
Objectives: To assess the pattern of usage of personal listening devices and the knowledge of its harmful effects among students of professional colleges in central Kerala.
Materials & Method: A cross sectional study was conducted on 363 students of a   private medical and engineering college in central Kerala using a semi-structured questionnaire.
Result: Out of total 363 students who gave consent for study, 77% of medical students and 56% of engineering students were PLD users. The students used PLDs for both educational and recreational purposes (mainly gaming). Earphones/in ear devices were used by 52% of the students. There is predominance in the number of students who have been using PLDs for 2-5 years (54.3% medical and 37.2% engineering) and currently using it 3-5 days per week for more than 4 hours per day. 63% of students listen to more than 50% volume of the device and 80% of the users increase the volume in a noisy environment.  35% of the medical students and 37% of engineering students clean their PLDs frequently.  Only a few students (13%) share their earphones, but most students (60%) do not clean it before sharing.
Although medical students were able to correctly answer most of the knowledge questions better than the engineering students, it was found that only 24.4% of the medical and 10.1% of the engineering students knew that the highest safe exposure level is 85dB of sound up to a maximum of 8 hours.